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I did this call as a paramedic. As we entered the back door, stretcher in hand, we saw her - bracketed by the home care nurse and a social worker. She wore a scarf that hooded her face and her long gray hair hung dirty and straight, further indrawing her features. Her tired old dress clung to her as she held the workers on either side for support. The faded, not too clean, bodice of her dress froze agonizingly with each breath.

The caseworker said " She found her husband on the floor last week and tried to lift him up. We think she tore some rib muscles and has developed pneumonia." We started our treatment and as we worked I looked around. Every room was stacked with boxes and old newspapers, the lights were dingy and walls were dirty with soot from the old wood stove in the kitchen. It looked like the house inside had never seen the light of day and indeed through the caregiver's narrative we heard, "They lived here forty years and hardly ever came out."

My thought was, they became each others universe inside these walls. We finished up and took her to the hospital. It wasn't until two weeks later I slipped through my mind into that same kitchen, a week before we actually arrived and I found her kneeling with her dead husband in her arms and she was saying to him -

Never Again

The day will come
When I reach out
For the hand I love in mine
Only to find it is cold

Just like buying a rose
In a store
You know it's dead
When its sold

You'll not feel the heat
Of my tears
As they flow thru
My lashes and fall

Or comfort my body in agony
As I kneel in pieces and weep
Forever you said just yesterday
And now its never at all

Oh! From the very moment
I saw your face so divine
Captured I was like the flavor
Neath the cork in the wine

Imprisoned in the thought
Of the softness of your lips
As they pressed
So warmly to mine

We've walked the many days
Of our lives together,
Hand in hand, your love
To me inclined

Well met we made a bargain
Till now well made and true
To hold each other lovey
The way I'm holding you

But you can't hear my crying love
Your far past too old to hear
Aahhh, death has made you deaf
And me alone still living here

Remember when our eyes they met
And saw the whispered sighs
We did not wait till dark was late
To satisfy our cries

Oh have we rushed thru life my dear
Too fast to savor or fear
The thought of being so close
Or never again being near

So much isn't said
In the lines we have read
But I have placed
Between them with care

For you ,the one, the beautiful
I will always be there
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© 1999 Vinny Please respect the rights of the author and Passions in Poetry. If you would like to use this poem on your own web page, please contact the Author. Thank you.

15 Visitor Comments

Mary
After losing my husband, the words of this poem have deeply touched me.
Veronica
This is beautiful. I have been married for forty-seven years and this poem really hits home.
Nicole
Your poem is beautiful it brought tears to my eyes, but made me really appreciate the ones that I hold dear.
Eskimilo
Vinny is my Dad and I love him and I never want his hand to be cold without the warmth of Jesus in his heart!
Renee
Beautiful and breathtaking!
Ted
I know Vinny and I was not aware until today that he hid these talents. I know that all of us in this field have had similar feelings, but have never been able to express them with such feeling and eloquence. He captured a moment in life that we will all come to. Thanks Vinny
Shirley
How moving your poem is - I cired as I read it. You touched me deeply with your writing. Thank you.
mich
very touching very real good work
Charisma
deeply moved by your words..
kat
This is exactally how I feel since I lost my husband!!!
davina
this poem has touched my heart it has been so long since reading something so deep
vix
wow, this really touched me i cried at the thought of losing my fiancee, just like in the poem. i will never take him for granted...
Lisa
Very Touching. It takes a very special person to articulate such human emotion.
Kitty
Excellent work!
Angela
Oh my, that was so heart felt, there are many emotions in this poem, Vinny must have wrote it with tears in his eyes, I had tears in mine.

All Visitor Comments on this poem have been posted by people who wanted to let the author know the poem touched their hearts. If you would like to leave a comment of your own, please Vote for this poem.
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